Tag Archives: politics opinion

Will conservative media seek to empower the individual American, whatever the color, gender or ethnicity?

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One of the unexpected outcomes of President Barack Obama’s election victory, which was reasonably predictable, is that conservative media is in turmoil.

That level of divergence could imperil the effectiveness of conservative opinion during the next series of critical news cycles when media will influence public opinion and the shape of policies addressing the fiscal cliff.

CONSERVATIVE MEDIA DIVIDED

POLTICO.COM  in a post by Dylan Byers surveys the divergent views of conservatives on how right leaning media cost the GOP the Presidential Election. READ MORE: “Media fight on the right over GOP,” LINK: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83679.html

HUCKABEE’S MESSAGE

Whatever conservative media did or failed to do, Mike Huckabee has delivered the salient message conservatives need to dwell on going forward:

“Our problem isn’t the product, it’s the box we put it in. Our message should not be ‘tailored’ to a specific demographic group, but presented to empower the individual American, whatever the color, gender or ethnicity.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83679_Page4.html#ixzz2BvucjiWM

LEANING FORWARD

Does conservative media have the will to lean forward?

Will conservative media adopt Mike Huckabee’s admonition, and seek  to empower the individual American, whatever the color, gender or ethnicity?

RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB

ROMNEY: Would an African American female running mate push Mitt Romney’s candidacy over the top?

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Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney ...

Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann Romney (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

COMMENTARY

Could Mitt Romney win the “race to the top” if he names an African American female to his ticket as vice president?

Jessika Morgan, in “Black Female GOP Possibilities May Exist for Romney Running Mate,” wrote the following:

Women are being considered as possible candidates to run with Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on the November ballot, the GOP candidate’s wife said July 5.

“We’ve been looking at that,” Ann Romney told CBS News in an interview. “There’s a lot of people Mitt is considering right now.”

She declined to say more about the list of possible vice president candidates to be paired with the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, other than to note that, as the former Massachusetts governor’s wife, she has offered advice in the selection process and would “love that option” of a female running mate.

Among the Black Republican women who could be added to a list of women running mate possibilities are former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll.

Rice, the subject of speculation in June, rejected the idea. And while Carroll, a Navy veteran and the first woman elected to statewide office in Florida has been silent, political journalists see Carroll as a possible aid to a Romney candidacy.

SOURCE: AFRO AMERICAN NEWSPAPER LINK: http://www.afro.com/sections/news/afro_briefs/story.htm?storyid=75525

Related articles

Could an African American running mate aid Romney’s candidacy?

What do you think?

Your comments are welcomed.

Is Georgia Politics, Religion, Gay Bashing Or The Eddie Long Mess On Our Mind?

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The Bishop Eddie Long alleged sex scandal is now on an incredible news media roll that could run into the November midterm elections and even beyond. But, is Long’s high-profile mess really about his alleged illicit sex, relations with gays or gay bashing; the power and influence of black churches, mega churches, television ministries or black ministers in general; or, the rough and tumble of Georgia based politics and political campaigns?

For bloggers, public affairs, politics and media junkies, it’s interesting and engaging what’s going on in Georgia these days.

The Democratic candidate for Governor, Roy Barnes, who cancelled an upcoming political campaign fundraiser to be hosted by Bishop Long, is in a tough election contest with a Tea Party supported opponent. And, Newt Gingrich, the former Georgia Congressman, U. S. House Speaker and leader of the conservative Contract With America movement that influenced mid-term House elections in 1994 under President Clinton, is making rumblings about launching a candidacy for the upcoming Presidential Election. With all that going on, there is renewed national debate about the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy affecting gays in the military, on the heals of a court decision declaring the policy to be unconstitutional, while Reverend Long takes a hit about his gay bashing.

WOW!!! What a mess, what a scandal and what a blast for politics, current and future Georgia based political campaigns, religion, gays, television ministries and black ministers all rolled into one!

Perhaps it’s all a coincidence; perhaps not. It will be interesting to see who gets paid out of all this at the end of the day.

But, one thing is for certain.

Georgia will certainly be on our mind for a while.

White House Counsel Bauer May Reign In Corporate Political Money Adverse To The President

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Robert Bauer, a Washington, D. C. political power lawyer who recently became White House Counsel, is likely to emerge as the most important in-house counselor to President Barack Obama and his reelection campaign committee as they begin to gird themselves against what could be a torrent of negative advertising openly attacking the President’s leadership, sharply criticizing his policies and aggressively advocating his defeat.

That spate of advertising probably will be fueled by gushers of political money, in the hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars, which corporations are now free to spend seeking to influence the outcome of the 2011 Presidential Election. The prediction is fair in light of the recent decision of the SCOTUS in Citizens United v. FEC. The Supreme Court declared, in a 5-4 decision, that corporations have a free speech right protected by the First Amendment to tap their vast treasuries, without government interference or regulation, and spend unlimited sums of money on advocacy and advertising to defeat or support candidates in federal elections for political offices.

Bauer formerly chaired the political law practice group of Perkins Coie, a national law firm. He is an expert in campaign finance and the regulation of political money. In addition, he has authored several books and maintained a weblog on the subjects. He also has lectured and litigated on the subjects.

More important for the President, Bauer has been his personal lawyer. He represented President Obama in the litigation challenging the President’s nationality and qualifications to serve in office. There is no question about Bauer’s loyalty to the President, and his motivation to lawyer and advocate for the President with zeal.

So what’s the bottom line?

Corporations may spend their treasury money as they please to make independent expenditures playing politics. Having said that, there are still regulations in place limiting their political activities. Those regulations prohibit direct corporate contributions to political candidates; limit the amounts of contributions which can be made to political candidates through corporate political action committees; and, outlaw any political spending in federal elections by foreign corporations.

The law is clear with respect to corporations making independent expenditures. What’s not clear is whether corporations have a First Amendment free speech right to collaborate with political candidates on the expenditure of corporate political money to advocate or advertise the defeat of their opponents. As stated by Craig Engle, head of the Political Law Group at Arent Fox: “These expenditures must still be made independent of the candidate’s campaign.” Supreme Court Strikes Corporate Speech Prohibition in Campaign Finance Case (01-21-10) Link:  Arent Fox Article  That issue alone is likely to generate a slew of complaints, compliance investigations and enforcement suits.

Bauer’s task is clear.

He must give counsel and direct implementation of a broad strategy to monitor and review closely corporate political expenditures for advocacy and advertising adverse to the President. He and his staff must respond quickly and aggressively to any negative advocacy and advertising that damage the President. They also must take the necessary action to assure that the related expenditures comply with the regulations which have survived the Supreme Court decision.

Small Business Political Money & Free Speech-Will Their Political Activism Lead To Gushers Of Political Cash And Campaign Ads?

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After considering Ted Olsen’s comments in The Wall Street Journal about the impact of the SCOTUS decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, it is clear that the free speech rights of small business and their entrepreneurs were as much intended targets of the decision as those of major corporations. Olsen, the lawyer for Citizens United, said:

 The decisions that the Court today overruled rested on the faulty premise that political speech can be restricted in order to prevent corporate money from “distorting” political discourse. In fact, the vast majority of corporations are either nonprofit advocacy groups–like Citizens United–or small businesses. Far from “distorting” the political process, the speech of these corporations reflects the views of their members or the entrepreneurial individuals who formed the corporation. Permitting these individuals to have a voice in the political process adds an important perspective to the public debate and enables individuals of limited means to band together to counterbalance the political speech of the super-rich. McCain-Feingold silenced those speakers, and, as the Court concluded, was therefore impossible to reconcile with the First Amendment. 

That was a mouthful. Link: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/01/21/free-speech-v-democracy-rounding-up-the-citizens-united-reactions/tab/article/

Apparently, Olsen envisions significant and substantially increased levels of activism in policy making and politics by thousands upon thousands of small businesses and entrepreneurs. Those are the legions of “S” Corps, LLC’s, LLP’s and their owners. For the most part, they have not been players in politics: they have not set up PACS; they do not have lobbyists; and, have not spent money on political ads.

But, they will have a lots of political money, heretofore untapped gushers of political cash in the millions of dollars, to spread around on the political playing field and deploy for all types of public affairs advocacy; to influence policy; and, to take sides and spend those millions on ads for political candidates they like or dislike influencing the outcomes of elections.

In that respect, whatever the original intent of the litigation was, the Citizens United decision has fostered a new, unchartered and possibly unlimited frontier for the deployment of political money and advertising dollars spent lavishly not only by major corporations, long term players in politics; but also, by small businesses and their owners, the new entrants.

 That conceivably will revolutionize, and perhaps even radicalize, politics, policy making and election outcomes well beyond the bounds as we now them!

Corporate Free Speech Decision May Usher In A New Era Of Political Rapid Responses & Heightened Public Interest To Corporate Activism

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The SCOTUS decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission could unleash nearly unlimited expenditures of corporate treasury funds in politics.

One view is that the full impact of the decision probably will not be limited to an unprecedented expansion of corporate political advocacy directed at policy and the election or defeat of candidates for political office.  Another view, as articulated by Dr. Stephen R. Weissman, a former associate director for policy at the Campaign Finance Institute, is that the “decision is unlikely to change the political situation on the ground very much.” Los Angeles Times, Opinion (January 28, 2010). Link: http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/28/opinion/la-oe-weissman28-2010jan28

In any event, the decision in Citizens United is also likely to usher in a new era of political rapid responses by savvy politicians on a range of policy issues affecting corporations.

As corporations raise their profiles, advocate and engage in politics by hitting politicians for their  positions on policy issues, savvy politicians intuitively will respond and hit back. Increased spending for corporate speech and political advertising should generate significant media coverage. That spate of news articles, commentaries and editorials on corporate public affairs matters ostensibly will heighten the public’s interest.

Heightened public interest expands the political playing field. The more intense the debates, the attacks on politicians and the  media coverage, the better for the politics in general.  Savvy politicians and candidates for political office can take advantage of the new found political play, expensed for the most part by corporate political money, and prosper!

Certainly, there will be  legitimate concerns expressed about the possible corrosive influence of corporate political money on policy making and the outcomes of elections.

But, good politicians should be ready to hit back if they are attacked by corporations. 

And, shrewd candidates for political office should position themselves to take advantage of corporate political activism.